Carol Vorderman to join air cadets for 75th anniversary at RAF College Cranwell

Andy Hubbert

Fact file:
The royal patron for the RAF Air Cadets is HRH The Duchess of Cambridge who launched the organisation’s 75th anniversary celebrations in London earlier this year.

The Air Training Corps was established in 1941 by royal warrant to train teenage boys in aviation so they could fly planes and work as engineers and in other RAF trades during the Second World War. Many of the CCF (RAF) detachments were also founded in the same year.

Much of the syllabus which covers up to A-level in physics is the same today as it was in the 1940s albeit new subjects such as cyber technology are also available.

Nearly 43,000 cadets, aged 12-19, at 1,000 ATC squadrons and 220 CCF (RAF) units across the UK and abroad today also learn good citizenship, leadership, take BTECs in music, learn First Aid, aircraft recognition and navigation as well as have opportunities to fly Tutor aircraft, Viking gliders and high tech simulators.

A number of flying scholarships are available to help cadets on their way to achieving a private pilot’s licence (PPL).

The ATC is also one of the largest operating authorities of the Duke of Edinburgh Award, runs scores of camps, overseas expeditions and the prestigious International Air Cadet Exchange with 20 other nations.

There are seven major sports in the ATC with two adventure training centres as well as the junior leaders programme, STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) camps, target shooting and even parachuting.

Girls were allowed to join in the early 1980s and today approximately a third of cadets are female.

Celebrity aviator Carol Vorderman will join up to 5,000 cadets from across the UK at RAF College Cranwell on August 13 to mark the 75th anniversary of the RAF Air Cadets.

Well known for her appearances on TV’s Countdown and science shows, Ambassador to the RAF Air Cadets, Honorary Group Captain Vorderman will attend the historic national parade and musical extravaganza and meet cadets aged 13-19.

Also attending will be VIP guests including the new Chief of the Air Force Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier, himself a former cadet.

As well as the huge parade there will be flypasts from the Red Arrows and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and the RAF Falcons parachute display team are set to drop in.

The historic event is to mark 75 years since the formation of the Air Training Corps and several units of the Combined Cadet Force (RAF), collectively known as the RAF Air Cadets.

Opening with a precision parade in front of College Hall, 350 cadets will perform a spectacular hour-long drill ceremony, before musically gifted youngsters and volunteers take to the stage for the musical extravaganza with compere Peter Dickinson - voice of the X-Factor. The day will close with a finale of fireworks.

In preparation for the parade, cadets will attend a prestigious week-long drill and ceremonial camp at Beckingham Training Camp, 10 miles from RAF Cranwell.

More information about the RAF Air Cadets, including how to join as a cadet or as an adult volunteer, can be found at www.raf.mod.uk/aircadets

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